Circuit-interrupter.



P. H. THOMAS,

CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1908v 1,079,380, Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

a Suntan top UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERCY H. THOMAS, OF MONT CLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC 00., OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CIRCUIT-INTERRUPTER.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

Original application filed December 24, 1906, Serial No. 349,270. Divided and this application filed April 24, 1908. Serial No. 428,965.

To all 10/1011). it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERCY H. Trronas, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Montclair, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Interrupters, of which the following is a specification.

This application is a division of a certain application filed by me, December 24, 1906, Serial Number 349,270, relating to methods of and apparatus for starting vapor devices; and the special subject of this application is a circuit interrupter constituting a part of the apparatus described and shown in the said prior application.

In order to serve the purposeof the particular invention described in my above mentioned prior application and also for many other purposes, it is desirable to provide a circuit interrupter in which the action at the moment of rupturing the circuit at the interrupter shall bevery positive and sud-- den and as well, able to resist a shock of high potential. That is to say, it is important in the special case referred to and in many other cases that a circuit interrupter should be provided wherein the formation of an are at the moment ofseparation of the interrupter terminals should be avoided and a clean, positive, absolute break be accomplished.

By the devices which are illustrated and described herein, I am able to accomplish these results, as has been satisfactorily demonstrated in actual practice. It will be understood that to properly perform its functions, it is usually desirable that the device be exhausted of air and other impurities and that all occluded gases be eliminated from the solid and liquid bodies within the vacuum space, and also that it be inserted in a circuit carrying a current low in strength or otherwise rendered unstable.

In one form of the apparatus, the contacting parts between which a rupture takes place for the interruption of the circuit consist of mercury and in another form these parts consist of solid elements, one of which is stationary and the other movable. In both forms of apparatus the contacting and separating parts are within a hermetically sealed and completely exhausted container' with trunnions on which .the said container may be turned for the purpose of causing the separation or contacting of the terminals of the interrupter, as the case may be. The forms adapted are such as have been found particula'rly well suited to' the causing of a quick and complete interruption of the circut inside the container.

The details of the circuit interrupter herein claimed are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a longitudinal section through one form of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a cross section along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, looking toward the left; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modified form of circuit interrupter. Fig. 4 shows circuits adapted to supply anstable current to one of applicants circuit interrupters.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 1 is a container, generally cylindrical in form, and provided with axial trunnions, 2 and 3, on which the device may be caused to rock or rotate. The lower part of the cylinder is distorted by an indentation, 4, which forms in the inside of the container a ridge, 5, adapted to separate the interior of ,the container at its lower side into two pockets, 6 and- 7, whereinmercury is adapted to be contained as is clearly shown in the drawing. The normal position of the circuit interrupter at times when the circuit is closed through it is one in which this ridge stands at an angle of approximately fortyfive degrees to the horizontal, at which time, as shown in Fig. 2, the mercury is connected over the lower part of the ridge so that there is a complete conducting contact between the mercury in one pocket and that in the other. By turning the device on its trunnions slightly toward the observer, as the device appears in Fig. 1, the mercury is caused to separate over the lower edge of the ridge, much as if a knife-edge of insulating material had been thrust between the mercury in the two pockets. It is found that the rupture which takes place under these conditions is clean cut and positive and causes an absolute rupture of the circuit under ordinary conditions of use. Connection from the outside to the mercury in the two pockets 6 and 7, is obtained by means of circuit wires, 8 and 9,

passing down through ree'ntrant tubes, 10

' are sealed into and through the lower ends of the said tubes. The connection of the circuit interrupter, (which in practice has come'to be denominated a shifter), upon a circuit in which it is included is obvious. It will often be found desirable, as shown in the figure, that the cylindrical portion of the container, the trunnions, the indented portion and the reentrant tubes, should be of glass and should all be formed of the same material integral with one another and of relatively the same thickness, on account of the greater facility in handling and annealing of the material.

In Fig. 3 the cylinder, 14:, is mounted on trunnions, 15 and 16, which are at right angles to the axis of the cylinder. The contacting arts are shown at 17 and 18, the former being loosely suspended so as to rest against the stationary contact part, 18, when the device is resting on its trunnions in a certain position as shown, and to swing so as tofall away from contact therewith when the device is turned away from the observer. The terminal, 17 is hung in this instance upon a hook, 19, which is provided With'a lead, 20, passing through and sealed into the upper end of the cylinder.

The stationary contact part, 18, is connected to a lead, 21, sealed into and passing out from the lower end of the cylinder.

The device of Fig. 3 is specially suitable when transportation conditions are severe as it is not subject to shock from mercury i Violently thrown about during transportation.

I claim as my invent-ion A circuit interrupter, comprising a hermetically sealed and completely exhausted glass chamber havin a body part substantially cylindrical in form with hollow axial extensions at the ends, a quantity of mercury within the container, an indentation in the cylindrical part of said container adapted to divide the mercury into two parts on rotation about the axial extensions and reentrant tubes inclosing lead wires and introducing the lead wires 'underthe surface of the divided bodies of mercury, together with seals for said lead wires.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 23rd day of April A. D. 1908.

PERCY H. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CAPEL, THOS. H. Brown. 

